


Arrangement

by honestgrins



Series: Challenge Accepted [19]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 07:46:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5577184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestgrins/pseuds/honestgrins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Day 19 - Human Klaus Time: Marriage is the name of the game, and Caroline is put out at the thought of her father's choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Arrangement

Rebekah found her crying near the falls.

"Caroline," she called. "I've been looking everywhere for you, you weren't at your normal chores."

Caroline had hastily wiped at her face, but the sniffles and blotchy redness were enough for Rebekah. "What happened," she asked worriedly, looking over her friend for any evidence of harm. "Did someone hurt you?"

"Not physically," Caroline muttered, still trying to prevent tears from falling. "My father brought me a marriage proposal, one that he will not allow me to refuse."

"Well, that's not so bad," Rebekah said, wondering at the despair in her friend's face. "We had both been waiting to find husbands and build our families together. I don't even know who you would refuse, unless it's that clod Alexander. Even then, he's quite handsome."

"Bekah," Caroline sighed, shaking her head. "I can't."

"You can't what," Rebekah asked. "Tell me?"

The offense so clear on Rebekah's face almost drew a laugh from Caroline, until the predicament she was in came back to the forefront. "I can't accept a husband that doesn't truly want me," she answered.

Rebekah just scoffed. "That's ridiculous, there's not a man in this village who wouldn't be honored to have such a beautiful wife."

"Not even Niklaus," Caroline asked in a whisper, tears flooding her eyes again. "He told us just yesterday of his plans to offer for Tatia."

"That wench deserves neither of my brothers, nor the way they dote over her," Rebekah scowled before she realized what Caroline had just admitted. Placing a hand on her friend's back, she couldn't hide her surprise. "Your father wants you to wed Nik?"

"Mikael was quite adamant in the offer, or so my father told me," Caroline explained.

"But," Rebekah cried, excitement starting to fill her, "that would mean we could be sisters! Caroline, it's everything we ever wanted!"

"Except in our dreams," Caroline pointed out, "we both had husbands who loved us dearly. If this marriage comes to pass, I won't have that."

"Caroline-"

"Please, Bekah," she pleaded, looking back to the water. "I just need some time. I promise, I'll be back for dinner."

Rebekah sighed, clasping a hand around Caroline's clenched hands. "It will be okay, Caroline," she whispered. "I just know it." Standing up, she took her leave and sent a prayer that she hadn't just lied to her dearest friend.

* * *

Dinner was a disaster for Rebekah. Elijah was triumphant, finally able to announce a betrothal to Tatia he had arranged with his father's help. Klaus looked morose, though he also should have been celebrating an engagement.

She supposed she should have some comfort in the fact that Caroline had feigned ill, her mother taking back a bowl of stew for her.

"Honestly, you're being ridiculous," Rebekah burst out, unable to contain her ire any longer. Klaus looked up, shocked at the interruption to his brooding.

"Is it really so ridiculous to be upset when your own brother proposes to your intended first?" Klaus saw the betrayal doubly so, considering how close he and Elijah were.

"Yes, when you have your own fiancee in tears at the prospect of marrying you because you're too broken up over some harpy playing with you and our brother," Rebekah spat, tired of his whining.

Klaus's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

Rebekah opened her mouth to yell some more, but Klaus wasn't that good of an actor. "You truly don't know," she said, both put out at her father's scheming and relieved that Klaus wasn't a complete dunce. "Father has proposed an agreement for Caroline's hand, and William is likely to accept."

"Caroline told you this," Klaus asked, rising from his seat. "You said she was cryi- Where is she?"

"At home," Rebekah answered, glad to see Klaus's genuine concern overtaking his anger at seeing Elijah and Tatia. "She's playing sick to avoid you."

Klaus left immediately, heading toward Caroline's family home.

* * *

"Is it true?"

Caroline looked up to the doorway, where a panting Klaus was trying to catch his breath. She had been fighting the tears all night, tired of crying; that didn't stop fresh tears from coming. "My father just left to speak with Mikael," she admitted. "We'll be married by the next full moon."

Klaus moved closer to where she was sitting in the corner, crouching to meet her gaze. "Are you truly this upset at marrying me," he asked, wiping the tears from her cheek.

"You love Tatia," Caroline said, resigned. She pulled away from his touch. "I will not be anyone's second choice. Not even yours."

Klaus cocked his head, fully aware that Caroline had always nursed a bit of a crush on him. It would seem that his feelings had been too well hidden, though. "Caroline," he said, drawing her full attention. He never let his eyes waver. "Before Tatia arrived, I had asked my father about courting you. He said he would never allow the connection, that he'd sooner die than let any son of his marry into the Forbes-"

"Because of my father," Caroline interrupted. She knew the scandal that he had stepped out of his marriage had hurt the family, but not to such a degree. She supposed that explained why she had only just received a proposal when girls younger than her were already well established in their own households. Something else caught her ear, though. "But Tatia arrived nearly a year ago," she pointed out. "If you intended to court me so long ago, why tell me now? And after chasing another woman so doggedly? You've barely spoken to me this entire time."

"I was a coward," Klaus admitted, finally looking down. "You were my dearest friend outside the family, and I couldn't face you with the truth that I wanted more, only to be denied by my father."

Shaking her head, Caroline tried to focus on more than Klaus's late truths. "Why would your father change his mind so drastically?"

"He's not my father," Klaus said, swallowing his nerves. "He met a man in his travels, the resemblance too much to ignore. My mother admitted to the affair," he explained. "I'm afraid you have been caught in the aftermath of my father's rage. I can't promise you a good future as Mikael's son."

Caroline just blinked. "You-"

"But I can promise you that I would do right by you as a husband," he continued, reaching for her hand. "I will admit that losing Tatia hurt my pride, but forcing myself to avoid you hurt my heart and my soul."

A large part of Caroline wanted to laugh at the flowery language, but she would be lying if it didn't stoke a fire that had burning in her for longer than she'd care to admit.

"I would always provide for you and the family we would create," he promised. "And I would be honored for you to become my wife."

Tears began rolling down her face again, which Klaus was quick to wipe away. "Please stop crying, love," he begged. "I meant to make you feel better about marrying me, if only because I would be so happy to marry you."

"I do, you did," Caroline insisted quickly, a bright smile contradicting her tears. "I only wanted a husband that wanted me, too."

"I do, Caroline," Klaus said, wrapping her in a hug. "I just never thought I would have the honor of being more than your friend."

"You will always be my friend," she said seriously before smiling again. "But I'll be glad to call you husband, too."

Unable to hold back anymore, Klaus leaned in to finally kiss her. He had dreamed of such a moment for years, but nothing could compare to feeling of her lips turned up into a smile. It made for a clumsy kiss, but Klaus could have never asked for anything better had he lived to be a thousand years old.


End file.
